Building trust through vigilance: How Diva Samnotra is leading Ongoing Monitoring at Tide India

In the fast-paced world of fintech, protecting customer interests while enabling business growth requires a delicate balance of expertise, leadership, and innovation. Meet Diva Samnotra, who leads Ongoing Monitoring at Tide India. From building a 50+ member team from scratch to establishing round-the-clock fraud monitoring systems, Diva’s three and a half year journey at Tide exemplifies how passionate leadership can transform challenges into opportunities. In this exclusive interview, she shares insights into her role in safeguarding Tide’s 500,000+ member base in India, while fostering a culture of excellence and empowerment.

Your journey in financial services spans over a decade. What drew you to the field of financial crime prevention, and how has your experience shaped your current role at Tide?

My 10+ years in financial services and fintech have given me a unique perspective on the challenges in this domain. Before Tide, I managed risk and fraud portfolios for both issuing and acquiring sides of the ecosystem. This comprehensive experience has been invaluable in my current role, allowing me to understand and address financial crime prevention from multiple angles.

You were the first person to join ongoing monitoring for Tide India. How has your journey evolved from building the team to leading it?

The journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. Starting from scratch three and a half years ago, we’ve reached significant milestones that have shaped both the team and my leadership approach. Our first major challenge was building the foundation – it wasn’t just about recruiting, but establishing scalable processes and workflows that would grow with us. Today, we’ve built a strong, competent team of over 60 members.

As Tide launched new products in India every few months, we had to demonstrate remarkable adaptability. This meant adding new monitoring queues while ensuring our team maintained expertise across all product lines. One of our most recent and significant achievements was transitioning to 24/7 fraud monitoring – a complex undertaking that involved developing new strategies, implementing round-the-clock staffing, and refining our response protocols. Thanks to my exceptional team, we accomplished this in record time.

These milestones have been instrumental in my professional growth, pushing me to develop not only technical expertise but also leadership, problem-solving, and strategic thinking skills. Looking back, it’s been about more than just growing numbers – it’s been about building robust processes and creating a resilient team capable of adapting to new challenges.

Could you explain what ongoing monitoring entails and its significance for Tide’s members in India?

Ongoing monitoring is our continuous vigilance over members and their transactions from the day they’re onboarded. Since our launch in India two years ago, we’ve implemented monitoring for 100% of our financial products. My team actively conducts transaction monitoring and regularly engages with members to clarify any uncertainties. This ongoing communication builds trust, assuring members that their accounts are being diligently protected.

In today’s evolving fintech landscape, what challenges do you face in preventing financial crime, and how does Tide stay ahead?

In today’s time, there are increasingly sophisticated threats, from AI-powered fraud schemes to advanced cyberattacks. Fraudsters are now using AI to trick users into sharing sensitive information, beyond traditional phishing scams. At Tide, we combat this through investment in advanced technology like AI and machine learning for real-time monitoring, maintaining updated security protocols, and ensuring thorough staff training. We’ve also implemented strong customer verification methods, including biometrics and multi-factor authentication.

Cross-functional collaboration seems crucial in your role. How do you work with other departments to ensure comprehensive risk management?

Collaboration is truly at the heart of effective ongoing monitoring, and we embody Tide’s #oneteam value in everything we do. We’ve established regular cadences with various departments, each playing a crucial role in our risk management framework. For instance, before any new product launch, we work closely with Risk and Compliance on thorough risk assessments, ensuring all controls are in place before go-live.

Our collaboration with Member Support helps us quickly identify emerging fraud patterns through customer queries and complaints. Working with Product Development ensures security features are built into new products from the ground up. We also partner with our Data Analytics team to enhance our risk assessment models and predictive capabilities.

What’s particularly exciting is how we’ve extended this collaborative approach to include other business areas and support teams like Training, QA, KYC, Sales, and Marketing. This comprehensive network of partnerships has been key to delivering successful cross-functional projects and maintaining a robust risk management framework.

Tide India recently won the FICCI Women Empowerment Award. How does this reflect Tide’s culture, particularly in the Indian office?

This award truly validates our commitment to creating an empowering workplace. At Tide, we believe culture doesn’t happen by chance – it’s carefully curated. We’ve built an environment focused on regular communication, transparent performance discussions, and investing in team growth. What makes me particularly proud is when candidates mention during interviews that they’ve heard about our positive culture, which inspired them to apply. It shows we’re building something special here.

Finally, what advice would you give to professionals aspiring to join Tide or pursue a career in fintech risk management?

While this field can be challenging, it’s incredibly rewarding. Strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and technical expertise are crucial. But what truly defines a “Tidean” is someone who embodies our values, demonstrates extreme ownership, learns from mistakes, and stays agile. We’re always looking for individuals who bring these qualities, regardless of their educational background. The key is to stay current with industry developments and maintain a growth mindset.